Respiratory disease is the leading welfare and production problem in veal calves, with housing design, nutrition, and preventive health programs being central to welfare improvement.
Veal calves face compounded welfare challenges - the stress of early separation from their dams, the transition to artificial feeding, and the high disease pressure of group housing environments. Respiratory disease in this context causes significant suffering through fever, coughing, and breathing difficulty. The housing and management choices in veal production create the conditions for disease, making respiratory illness in many cases a consequence of welfare-compromising production choices rather than an unavoidable natural event. Higher welfare veal systems using group housing with outdoor access, roughage feeding, and adequate space reduce disease pressure while simultaneously improving behavioral welfare.